Quickie Solo Dinner at Savio Volpe — What does the fox sa—ah never mind

On my way to get some Big Al’s fried chicken from The Lion’s Den Cafe, I thought I’d check out Savio Volpe, seeing as it’s just down the block. I only had room for a couple dishes, but man, was I happy to finally check it out!

WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY??????????????????????! Ok, that’s the first and last time I’ll say that, I promise.

I think their classy, understated branding (especially the fox drawings) are adorable. Breath of fresh air after the heavy-handed, laying-it-on-thick Spanishness of Ox & Angela in Calgary. It’s authentically Italian, but they don’t beat you over the head with it by spelling everything in Italian on the menu. And that huge window is so inviting.

The facade is grand yet minimal.

Loving the black paint.

Cover of the drink menu. That fox is hungry!

The beer list is actually good. It was put together by one of the servers, Alex, who used to work at Alibi Room and Brassneck. They’re all good quality, crowd-pleasing beers. Notice how they list the serving sizes (10oz and 16oz). Finally. Just straight-up no bullshit about “glasses”, “sleeves”, or “pints” (whatever they are, wink wink). They just list the size and the price. See, was that so hard? It’s what CAMRA Vancouver were fighting for, and now this restaurant just does it like it’s no big deal. Every restaurant should follow suit.

You can read their full menu online, but here’s some shots anyways. Ox Tongue Tonnata was tempting (I saw lots of it on Instagram), but I went with Crispy Pig’s Feet.

Ah, Bagna Cauda makes an appearance! It seems like the hot new dish this year. Had a couple renditions of it when we spent Christmas in Calgary — still working on the huge blog post about it 😛

A big draw on their menu is their fresh housemade/handmade pastas. I’ll have to wait to try them next time…

Trippa alla Romana!! Yay! Pig’s feet AND tripe in the same meal? Heaven.

Another big draw is their wood fire grill and spit. Sigh, I’ll have to try their dry-aged steaks next time…

Everything is shareable here, served family-style. Really communal. In fact, I saw a few families dining with kids. They have nice-looking high chairs here, so families don’t have to be stuck dining at Red Robin all the time 😛

The fox having a glass of vino while cooking up that chicken that never made it across the road.

Brassneck Ten Times Ten Americal Pale Ale (5.5%) – Glad to see Brassneck beers available on tap at more and more restaurants. Ten Times Ten is one of my favourite Brassneck beers. It’s a pale ale but with a bit of a heftier body and great piney Centennial hop character.

One minor niggle is the big ass, thick-walled mugs that they use. Feels like I’m at Tap & Barrel. My arms aren’t built for these…

Their fire grill and spit. Cooking with actual wood is so primal, unpredictable, dangerous…but delicious.

I sat at the counter and watched the Ferrari of meat slicers in use.

I should also mention the atmosphere: it’s loud and very busy. By 5:20pm on a Saturday, the place was already half full, and getting fuller by the minute. Still, I could hear enough of the great music they were playing — Marvin Gaye “What’s Goin’ On”, Echo and the Bunnymen “The Killing Moon”, ELO “Evil Woman”, etc. Cool, varied, and sensible playlist 🙂

Crispy Pig’s Feet with aioli ($10). Not super crispy, but delicately crispy, which made it all the more alluring. Also, very moist and unctuous inside. Squeeze of lemon…that’s all you need. Simplicity but executed very well. About the lemon: it was an actual juicy lemon. Not a dried out sliver of a lemon, but a fat juicy wedge. Seems like a simple thing, but I find myself fighting with chintzy slices of dried-out lemon far too often.

This was actually a new item on menu, added 3-4 days ago. All parts of the pig’s foot, cooked and formed into a croquette. Good seasoning — not too much, not too little. A natural with beer!

Trippa alla Romana with pecorino and mint ($12). Served with housemade sourdough bread that’s been grilled. OMG the bread. The bread. The bread! The crust is thin yet crusty/crispy. The crumb was soft, with a crumb structure that is SO appealing. And grilling it just makes it all the more better. Warmer, softer, crustier… Every place should grill their bread. I didn’t get that much sourness, but if they’re using their own sourdough starter (levain), I’m sure it’ll develop more flavour and complexity in the coming months and years, and hopefully we’ll be able to taste the terroir of the lovely Kingsway and Fraser corridor! Mmmmm, smells like the vapour lounge across the street…

Little morsels of tripe. Green stuff must be mint. The operative word with the tomato sauce is FRESH. It tasted of freshness, with subtle seasoning lifting the tomato. The tripe was very tender but still had a hint of chewiness that we all love about tripe.

2 days agoby dennisthefoodieS H R I N K A G E // No shrinkage here with @backcountrybrewing 's impressive 3.4% #IndiaSessionAle#IWasInThePool ! You get most of the juicy goodness of a full-on #hazyipa but with half the alcohol! The finish is understandably lighter and waterier but for the style it's quite an accomplishment. #craftbeer#backcountrybrewing#yvr#vancouver // You might've noticed way less beer posts lately. I've stopped drinking alcohol on most weekdays, so cut down my consumption by half. Feels good but my beer fridge is bursting at the seams. Strictly cream of the crop from now on (hopefully).

2 days agoby dennisthefoodieC A U L I F L O W E R // Wicca whipped up a #ChickenCurry with #RoastedCauliflower for #dinner . The extra roasting step is so worth it! She also threw in mushrooms, sweet potato, tomatoes, and carrots. We've been using Megachef blue label fish sauce for cooking lately and it's great — a bit bolder and saltier than Red Boat. (We still love Red Boat for making nuoc cham though!) The Megachef has great depth, which you can tell by tasting side-by-side with cheap fish sauce, which tastes mostly like salt and stank. #curry#yvr#vancouver

2 days agoby dennisthefoodieS W E E T ' N S W E E T P O R K // Some good #Korean#SweetAndSourPork ($18) with crunchy rice flour batter at @andamiro_korean_bistro . Like Chinese S&S pork, this Korean version is still plenty sweet and good but you have to be in the mood. Swipe to see the royal flourish of omelette strips on their Royal Beef Japchae ($16) and decent Bulgogi Stew ($12). Good value and service at one of the few Korean restaurants in Vancouver proper. They gotta do something about the smell of gas though. It's not the mercaptan (rotten eggs)

2 days agoby dennisthefoodieC H E E S E ' N C H I C K E N // Some good/decent #Korean eats this past weekend with @michelle_wsy . (Great seeing you and the family! Thanks for the exclusive American Spam!) I finally got to try a Korean bbq dish with melty cheese in it: #ChickenBulgogi ($13) with #cheese (+$3). Amusing but not particularly delicious. Watery bland cheese hardens fast. The restaurant @andamiro_korean_bistro is in a convenient location (for us), has good value and prompt service, with decent food that does the job. Quick review of this place now posted on my blog. #andamiro

2 days agoby dennisthefoodieO U T O F S E A S O N // No kidding, #uni is totally out of season right now, but that didn't stop me from trying these dirt cheap big unis (3 for $10) from Steveston. After all the work of cutting these guys open and cleaning the #seaurchin gonads, the result tasted watery with none of the silky richness that uni has from October to March. Lesson learned! (Actually I already knew this going in, but I had to test the theory for myself .) #yvr#vancouver#sashimi